Skip to main content
Log in

Antecedents of adolescent initiation into stages of drug use: A developmental analysis

  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The social psychological antecedents of entry into three sequential stages of adolescent drug use, hard liquor, marihuana, and other illicit drugs, are examined in a cohort of high school students in which the population at risk for initiation into each stage could be clearly specified. The analyses are based on a two-wave panel sample of New York State public secondary students and subsamples of matched adolescent-parent and adolescent-best schoolfriend dyads. Each of four clusters of predictor variables, parental influences, peer influences, adolescent involvement in various behaviors, and adolescent beliefs and values, and single predictors within each cluster assume differential importance for each stage of drug behavior. Prior involvement in a variety of activities, such as minor delinquency and use of cigarettes, beer, and wine are most important for hard liquor use. Adolescents' beliefs and values favorable to the use of marihuana and association with marihuana-using peers are the strongest predictors of initiation into marihuana. Poor relations with parents, feelings of depression, and exposure to drug-using peers are most important for initiation into illicit drugs other than marihuana.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelson, H. I., and Atkinson, R. B. (1975).Public Experience with Psychoactive Substances, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Rockville, Md.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, C., and Campbell, E. (1967). Peer influences on adolescent drinking.Quart. J. Studies Alcohol 28: 444–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, M., and Jones, M. (1968).Teen Age Drinking, Thomas Y. Crowell, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A., and Walters, R. H. (1963).Social Learning and Personality Development, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, H. S. (1953). Becoming a marihuana user.Am. J. Sociol. 59: 235–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, B. (1963). Adolescence and beyond: An essay review of three books on the problems of growing up.Soc. Forces 10: 394–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowerman, C. E., and Kinch, J. W. (1959). Changes in family and peer orientation of children between the 4th and 10th grades.Soc. Forces 37: 206–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brook, J., Lukoff, I., and Whiteman, M. (1977). Correlates of adolescent marijuana use as related to sex, age, and ethnicity.Yale J. Bio. Medicine 50: 383–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cahalan, D., and Roizen, R. (1974). Changes in drinking problems in a national sample of men. Paper presented at North American Congress on Alcohol and Drug Problems, San Francisco, December.

  • Cahalan, D., and Room, R. (1974).Problem Drinking Among American Men, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, New Brunswick, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cahalan, D., Cisin, I., and Crossley, H. (1969).American Drinking Practices, College and University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. (1955).Delinquent Boys, Free Press, Glencoe, Ill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. (1961).Adolescent Society, Free Press, Glencoe, Ill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. (1975). Methods and results in the IEA studies of effects of school on learning.Rev. Educ. Res. 45: 355–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, R. (1974). Parents and peers: Serendipity in a study of shifting reference groups.Soc. Forces 52: 368–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fillmore, K. M. (1974). Drinking and problem drinking in early adulthood and middle age: An exploratory 20 year follow up study.Quart. J. Stud. Alcohol 35: 819–840.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Floyd, H. H., and South, D. R. (1972). Dilemma of youth: The choice of parents or peers as a frame of reference for behavior.J. Marr. Fam. 34(4): 627–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glueck, S., and Glueck, E. (1950).Unraveling Juvenile Delinquency, The Commonwealth Fund, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gold, M. (1963).Status Forces in Delinquent Boys, Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goode, E. (1969). Multiple drug use among marihuana smokers.Soc. Problems 17: 48–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, L. A. (1975). The relationship between the modified and more usual multiple regression approach to the analysis of dichotomous variables. In Heise, D. R. (ed.),Sociological Methodology, 1976, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Pp 83–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halikas, J. A., and Rimmer, J. D. (1974). Predictors of multiple drug abuse.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 31(3): 414–418.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heise, D. (1972). Employing nominal variables, induced variables, and block variables in path analysis.Sociol. Methods Res. 1: 147–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, T. (1969).Causes of Delinquency, University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, P. H., Schaps, E., and Sanders, C. R. (1973). A methodology for monitoring adolescent drug abuse trends.Int. J. Addictions 8(3): 403–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., and Jessor, S. (1977).Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., Collins, M., and Jessor, S. (1972). On becoming a drinker: Social-psychological aspects of an adolescent transition. In Seixas, F. (ed.),Nature and Nurture in Alcoholism, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, New York, 197: 199–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., Jessor, S., and Finney, J. (1973). A social psychology of marihuana use: Longitudinal studies of high school and college youth.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 26: 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, B. D. (1973).Marihuana Users and Drug Subcultures, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. (1973).Drugs and American Youth, Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. (1973). Adolescent marihuana use: Role of parents and peers.Science 181: 1067–1070.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. (1974). Interpersonal influences on adolescent illegal drug use. In Josephson, E., and Carroll, E. (eds.),The Epidemiology of Drug Abuse, Winston and Co., Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. (1975a). Reaching the hard-to-reach: Illicit drug use among high school absentees.Addict. Dis. 1(4): 465–480.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. (1975b). Some comments on the relationship of selected criteria variables to adolescent illicit drug use. In Lettieri, D. (ed.),Predicting Adolescent Drug Abuse: A Review of Issues, Methods and Correlates, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Pp. 345–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D. (1975c). Stages in adolescent involvement in drug use.Science 190: 912–914.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D., and Faust, R. (1975). Sequence and stages in patterns of adolescent drug use.Arch. Gen. Psychiat. 32: 923–932.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D., and Lesser, G. (1972).Youth in Two Worlds, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D., Single, E., and Kessler, R. (1976a). The epidemiology of drug use among New York State high school students: Distributions, trends and change in rates of use.Am. J. Pub. Hlth. 66: 43–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, D., Treiman, D., Faust, R., and Single, E. (1976b). Adolescent involvement in legal and illegal drugs: A multiple classification analysis.Soc. Forces 55: 438–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoke, D. (1975). A comparison of log-linear and regression models for systems of dichotomous variables.Sociol. Methods Res. 3: 416–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, J. (1969).Deviance and Identity, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. E. (1968). The development of moral values and behavior in childhood. In Clausen, J. (ed.),Socialization and Society, Little, Brown and Co., Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddox, G., and McCall, B. (1964).Drinking Among Teen-Agers, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, Brunswick, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matza, D. (1964).Delinquency and Drift, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord, W. and McCord, J. (1959).Origins of Crime, Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, M. (1970).Culture and Commitment, Doubleday, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellinger, G., Somers, R. and Manheimer, C. (1975). Drug use research items pertaining to personality and interpersonal relations. In Lettieri, D. (ed.),Predicting Adolescent Drug Abuse: A Review of Issues, Methods and Correlates, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Pp. 299–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellinger, G., Somers, R., Davidson, S., and Manheimer, D. (1976). The amotivational syndrome and the college student. In Dornbush, R., Freedman, A., and Find, M. (eds.),Chronic Cannabis Use, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 282: 37–55.

  • Miller, W. (1958). Lower class culture as a generating milieu of gang delinquency.J. Soc. Iss. XIV: 5–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. (1972).Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding. Appendix Vols. I and II. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. (1973).Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Netter, J. and Maynes, E. (1970). On the appropriateness of the correlation coefficients with a 0,1 dependent variable.J. Am. Stat. Asso. 65: 501–509.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, F. (1958).Family Relationships and Delinquent Behavior, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parry, H., Cisin, I., Balter, M., Mellinger, G., and Manheimer, D. (1974). Increased alcohol intake as a coping mechanism for psychic distress. In Cooperstock, R. (ed.),Social Aspects of the Medical Use of Psychotropic Drugs, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, pp. 119–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Single, E., Kandel, D., and Faust, R. (1974). Patterns of multiple drug use in high school.J. Hlth Soc. Behav. 15: 344–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Single, E., Kandel, D., and Johnson, B. (1975). The reliability and validity of drug use responses in a large scale longitudinal survey.J. Drug Iss. 5: 426–443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smart, R., and Fejer, D. (1972). Drug use among adolescents and their parents: Closing the generation gap in mood modification.J. Abnorm. Psychol. 79: 153–160.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, G., and Fogg, C. (1975). Teenage drug use: A search for causes and consequences. In Lettieri, D. (ed.),Predicting Adolescent Drug Abuse: A review of issues, methods and correlates. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 277–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, G., and Fogg, C. (1977). Psychological Antecedents of Teenage Drug Use. In Simmons, R. (ed.),Research in Community and Mental Health: An Annual Compilation of Research, Vol. I, JAI Press, Greenwich, Conn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchman, E. (1968). The “hang-loose” ethic and the spirit of drug use.J. Hlth Soc. Behav. 9: 146–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, H., and Thum, D. (1973). Teen-age drinking, drug use, and social correlates.Quart. J. Stud. Alcohol 34: 1220–1227.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, T. (1971).Summary and Implications of Review of Literature Related to Adolescent Smoking. U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health, Bethesda, Md.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

This research is supported by Grant DA-00064 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and by the Center for Socio-Cultural Research on Drug Use of Columbia University.

Received Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University in 1960. Current research interests are adolescent socialization, longitudinal approaches to the study of human behavior and psychopathology, and processes of interpersonal influence.

Received Ph.D. in sociology from New York University in 1975. Major interest is quantitative sociology.

Received Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University in 1975. Current research interests include adolescent socialization and deviant behavior.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kandel, D.B., Kessler, R.C. & Margulies, R.Z. Antecedents of adolescent initiation into stages of drug use: A developmental analysis. J Youth Adolescence 7, 13–40 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538684

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538684

Keywords

Navigation